The Not-So-Private Elevator

Next time you’re in an elevator, be advised that someone – besides building security and fellow elevator riders – might be listening.  
A recent Wired article exposed the hidden world of elevator phreaking. By calling an unsecured elevator phone, a third party can expose a person, and potentially an enterprise, to a major security and privacy risk. Since elevator phones doesn’t require anyone to pick up the phone to open the circuit, a third party can make a call and be connected – allowing them to eavesdrop on conversations happening inside the elevator. Given the competitive nature of industries like banking and technology, it isn’t completely unthinkable for a hacker to eavesdrop this way.

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GDPR: A Boring but Important Update

On July 9, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) -- the highest court in Europe -- heard arguments challenging the validity of two key elements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that went into effect in May 2018: standard contractual clauses (SCC) and the Privacy Shield framework.

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Intermediate Network Woes: A Tale of Mobile Disconnect

Called on to help figure out why mobile calls weren’t reaching my client’s customers, I ultimately turned to the FCC.
 A savvy client of mine who sells hosted VoIP services recently called me with a serious problem. Calls made to my client’s customers from some mobile devices supported by two wireless providers suddenly -- and devastatingly -- weren’t completing. Calls completed, and then suddenly stopped working. The callers got either fast busy signals or ring-never-answers. To be polite, everyone was, um, annoyed.

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Why the Huawei Situation Should Matter to You

Will regulatory intervention in the name of national interest and security derail your technology implementation plans?
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump, claiming that threats to information and communications technology from foreign entities constitute a national emergency, signed the Executive Order on “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain” into law. The order, The New York Times suggests, may be the first step in the creation of a “digital Iron Curtain” as the president looks to secure what may be more favorable trade terms from a powerful and aggressive competitor – Chinese communications vendor Huawei -- to American businesses. It’s also possible that the order’s real purpose is to force China to rethink its long history of disregarding international intellectual property standards and laws and to secure better market behavior and a reframing of existing and future U.S.-China partnerships.

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Secure Your Data, But Don’t Overlook the Wireless Net

Follow this checklist so spectrum issues don’t impact your enterprise’s resilience.
One of my professional mentors and heroes is a well-read, rock n’ roll-loving policy expert (the word “wonk” seemed disrespectful and that’s the last thing I’d ever want to be) who pointed me toward a very interesting report on wireless resiliency published last fall in the U.K.. Let’s just say that when Obi-Wan Kenobi of spectrum policy points me in a given direction, I head there immediately. And I’m sharing here because, having now read the “Cyber-Spectrum Resilience Framework” report myself, I, too agree, that it raises some important issues for consideration by virtually every enterprise that relies on wireless service to support its business. 

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